Shooting plates [steel] Questions

[Jeffery8mm]

I want to build some spinner type targets for short range pistol [38/357 and 44mag]. I plan on using 3/8 steel plate for the "target" circle and then weld that to a reabar piece to slip through a section of open pipe. Anyhow, my question is:
Is this type target safe to shoot at. They are for sale in different magazines, so I assume they are. What about splashback or richocette?? Is 25 feet to close.
ANY ideas or suggestions are much appreciated.
Jeff

[cabezaverde]

Twice now I have been hit by ricochets from shooting steel plates with cast.

Once was during the summer, and got hit with a piece of 357 bullet in the cheek. It bled.

Second was in the winter, got hit with a piece of 45 bullet in the stomach. I had a heavy sweater on so it didn't penetrate, just made a welt on my RFB (round fat belly).

Both of those were with the plates at 10 yards. Now I move it out to 25.

[cabezaverde]

The plate I was shooting was a hanging swinger.

[high standard 40]

You will get mixed reviews on this. I have been shooting IHMSA silhouette since 1980 and while on the line have never been hit with splashback and Field pistol is shot at 25 yds. The shape of the target has a lot to do with it. If there is anything on the target that is cup shaped (for example a bullet crater) it can come back at you. A direct bullet impact on a flat steel plate that is vertical and horizontal to the bullet's path will cause the bullet to disintegrate and won't splashback. A bullet that only partially hits the edge of the plate can cause a ricochet and one off of an upper edge is dangerous as it can leave the area going over a berm. In the 28+ years if shooting plates I have never seen an accident injury from this.

Charlie.........

[cabezaverde]

The plate I was shooting was a hanging swinger.

and it has lots of dents, dings, and twists.

Thanks Charlie for that info.

[fourarmed]

Jacketed bullets and cratered steel targets are a bad combination. I have seen bullet jackets come back from the 50 m. sighter targets and stick in the leg of a spotter wearing shorts. If you are going to shoot steel, keep the craters filled and ground smooth. Even boolit fragments will come back from craters.

[dubber123]

I got whacked with a .38 slug hard enough to take the lense of my prescription glasses out. I was well behind the firing line, but still within 25 yds. Our targets are pounded to death. Lots of shooters, lots of hits.

[redneckdan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn0MFqP1js0

[Old Ironsights]

#1 - IMO anything more than tempered steel, pure lead and low velocity at steel under 25yds is asking for trouble. (i.e. follow CAS guidelines and you will prolly be OK)

That said, I have a 10" ARMORPLATE swinger that I shoot with High Power rifles (and my .357/180s) at 100yds all day...

http://www.metaltargets.com/Home.htm

[lead Foot]

"ouch"

[jsizemore]

We used a piece railroad rail to set our HP 25yd chickens on. I saw a 38 cast bullet come bounding back to the firing line and luckily not hit anybody. We started putting a landscape timber in front of the rail to stop the low shot automatic bullet return.

[454PB]

I once had my own shooting range, and I made a set of 3/8" mild steel targets hanging down on 1" heavy wall pipe. In the many thousands of rounds I fired at 25 yards, only 1 ever came close to hitting me, and it was a FMJ .45 ACP bullet. It struck a bush to my side. I learned that hard cast (wheelweights or harder) completely shatter on the steel and actually dig a nice trench directly below the target. I would occassionally find a flattened slug about the size of a nickel.

[Shuz]

I was a match director for IHMSA and NRA handgun silhouette for many years until we lost our range which was on city property. During the time our range was operating, we did have a few bullets, perhaps 3 or 4 (over 16 years), come back and hit people on the firing line. Once we moved the Field Pistol chickens from 25 yds to 40 yds, and placed wood under the inverted railroad rail target stands, we never had another incident. We also required all competitors and spotters to wear both ear and eye protection while on the firing line. We had many more complaints about revolvers spitting lead toward adjacent people than we ever did about bullet ricochets. I still shoot hardened steel targets on my home range from 40 yds on out with complete confidence that ricochets are not of great concern. I still require everyone to wear eye protection, just in case!

[dubber123]

I once had my own shooting range, and I made a set of 3/8" mild steel targets hanging down on 1" heavy wall pipe. In the many thousands of rounds I fired at 25 yards, only 1 ever came close to hitting me, and it was a FMJ .45 ACP bullet. It struck a bush to my side. I learned that hard cast (wheelweights or harder) completely shatter on the steel and actually dig a nice trench directly below the target. I would occassionally find a flattened slug about the size of a nickel.

Not all hardcast do that unfortunately. At our pistol shoots, we require cast, because they normally do as you say. The .38 that took the lense out of my glasses was a standard velocity 158 gr. cast swc.

The VAST majority of the ones that come back at you could easily catch in your hand. Every once in a while though....

[DanM]

I have a steel table with 4-6" steel targets made from half inch plate. Targets are heavy, and it takes a .45 to make them jump. When shooting at 10yds. we do take occasional fragments.
During a long session, someone usually takes a frag. Usually just stings a little. Have seen blood only twice in many years. Both of those were with jacketed ball ammo which is much worse than cast. Funny how the frags seem to be drawn to my belly. Obviously eye protection is mandatory.

[Old Ironsights]

Shooting Steel with J Bullets...

http://www.kurzzeit.com/videos.htm

[supv26]

I had to do a little redneck surgery once to remove a bullet jacket from my arm once. I was shooting .44 magnum at steel (younger dumber days) and a jacket fragment went through my coat into my arm.

Another redneck "hold my beer and watch this story"
Took the lead shot out of a 20 ga shell and reloaded it with steel ball bearings. Shot the wood pile and one of them bounced back and hit me in the chest. Knocked me down and took my breath away. Never did that again.

Anyway, use common sense, wear protection--eyes and ears, proper attire and you will be just fine! Just stay away from the rednecks that want you to hold their beer!

[sargenv]

All of the steel on our USPSA range is AR450 or above in hardness rating. It resisits everything except for rifle fired at short distances. Occasionally I'll be hit by spatter from one of the other shooting bays.

It really depends on how beat up your targets are and how the bullets will react to where they hit. If they are hard enough, even hard cast will flatten out nicely and deflect to a place where people are not.

Open gun shooters usually fire their 9 major and supers with 115's to 1450 fps and those bullets absolutely flatten like a pancake.

Rifle steel MUST be at least 50 yards away and the farther the better. Shotgun slugs are almost never used on steel (disqualification offense) but I've heard that there are some matches where they are used at 75 yards plus otherwise you catch frags pretty bad.

I wouldn't use any mild steel as a target if I had my druthers since it tends to crater rather than make the bullet scrub off energy. I might make an exception for 22 lr since those are usually quite soft bullets at a relatively low velocity.

[doghawg]

Weld a "tab" about 2" to 3" long (depending on the size of the plate) on the backside of the steel plate and suspend it from there. The steel plate hangs slightly face down and all the bullet splash will be directly in front or to the side of the target. I still wouldn't shoot at steel closer than 25 yards but after seeing enough bullet splash "evidence" in fresh snow I'm convinced this is the way to go.

[mikeyd499]

I shot some 357 wadcutters at an oak log today and had 2 boolits bounce off. One came back about 20 yards.

[Three44s]

+1 for hogdawg's post ......

Hang those plates a bit face down and get back 25 yards for handgun cast and like others:

EYE PROTECTION!!!!

Three 44s

[NSP64]

We used a piece railroad rail to set our HP 25yd chickens on. I saw a 38 cast bullet come bounding back to the firing line ......automatic bullet return.

Makes mining the lead from the burm a thing of the past.

[deltaenterprizes]

and it has lots of dents, dings, and twists.

Thanks Charlie for that info.

That is what is causing your problems.

[Chunky Monkey]

Since we are talking about steel plate shooting can I get so info from you folks.

I have 2 plates on their way to me. They are 10" 3/8" thick and a AR500 Brinell.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee267/Metzy84/Targets%20and%20Such/10insquareplate.jpg

My next problem if finding a way to properly hang them. I shoot in a wooded area and have to get there by 4 wheeler. The land is private and I have permission to use it. I don't leave anything behind when I'm done. So whatever I leave there I'd like it to be out of site, laying flat and covered with leaves.

So I need to come up with a way to transport them. I don't have a welder but there is a welding shop about 15 miles away. Thinking of making some stands out of rebar that can be left in the woods laying in the woods and just take the plates with me. Something like this below. Thinking of making 2 ends that are sort of 'A' shaped that I can just put a long steel bar through and hang the plates using chain/straps and clevis's.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee267/Metzy84/Targets%20and%20Such/steeltarget03.jpg

My concern would be after reading here that I need to angle the plates downward so as to avoid some of the problems I've read here. Any ideas?

Here are some pics I've come across of other set-ups that I've contemplated.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee267/Metzy84/Targets%20and%20Such/steeltarget04.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee267/Metzy84/Targets%20and%20Such/steeltarget02.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee267/Metzy84/Targets%20and%20Such/steeltarget01.jpg

[mtnman31]

When I was a teenager, a friend and I made a steel target from a large flywheel. His father owned a heavy equipment repair shop. We had a big flywheel suspended by chains from a frame made of angle iron - not the best material but, what we had available. Our shooting range butted up against an old buffalo jump that was very steep. We spent an afternoon getting the target (gong, as we called it) up the steep embankment. The two of us dragged that beast across the creek and struggled with the heavy monstrosity up the dirt, using bushes to help pull ourselves up. It is amazing we didn't slip, fall down and injure ourselves. We set the frame in the ground and spent the rest of the afternoon gleefully shooting it with our .22's. We were so proud of our accomplishment.

A few weeks later our pride and joy was gone. The frame was riddled with bullet holes and the chains had been shot apart. The flywheel had been split into a couple big chunks and was in the dirt. I don't know what it was shot with but I imagine it was something of the magnum class. Needless to say, it was so much work to get the thing in place that we had no inclination to replace or repair it. Good times...

[carpetman]

mtnman31---It is very obvious what happened to your gong. Someone was practicing on it with a .50bmg in preparation to take out a sub.

[supv26]

mtnman31---It is very obvious what happened to your gong. Someone was practicing on it with a .50bmg in preparation to take out a sub.

LOL no that's some funny stuff, I don't care who you are!!

:Fire:

[FieldShunt]

At our club, there's lots of steel shooting: USPSA, IDPA, and Steel Challenge.
The club minimum distance is 30 feet. USPSA of course allows less, down to 21 feet in certain circumstances.
We use a lot of ringers- discs and silhouettes mounted on 1" black pipe stands, suspended on 1/2" carriage bolts with springs to hold the plate off the pipe about an inch and a half.
There are also poppers by the score. We must have a hundred or more now.
Plus, four plate racks, two in permanent position.
One thing I noticed when I arrived there years ago- the guy who's in charge of club props is nearly psycho over cratered and dished plates. They get changed out instantly. After a few years, now I understand.
I cringe when my friends officiate wearing ordinary prescription spectacles. The official is usually looking at the gun, with their eye exposed to the side.
Sideshields are needed!

[Jeffery8mm]

Alot of great info here guys!!!! Thanks for the replies and help. The pics were good also.
Thanks
Jeff

[compass will]

All of the steel on our USPSA range is AR450 or above in hardness rating. It resisits everything except for rifle fired at short distances. Occasionally I'll be hit by spatter from one of the other shooting bays.

It really depends on how beat up your targets are and how the bullets will react,

My range buddy brought some 3/8" AR plate he made a silhouette out of. We placed it at 200m. He was whacking it with his Mosin and told me to shoot my 22-250 at it.

I gave it about 3 hits and we went to look at it. My 55g boat tails made creators big enough you could see light coming through the other side.